File it under rumours, but the latest in a slow trickle of supposed leaks is that the Wii’s successor will use the Cell processor. Jain Menon, a chief technical officer at IBM, had the following to say:

Don't be fooled by its size; the Cell processor means serious business.

We want to stay in the [console] business, we intend to stay in the business. I think you’ll see [Cell] integrated into our future Power road map. That’s the way to think about it as opposed to a separate line – it’ll just get integrated into the next line of things that we do. We’re working with all of the game folks to provide our capabilities into those next-generation machines.

If the business speak is too much for you, he’s basically saying that IBM intends to use the Cell processor in future consoles. What’s the big hullabaloo about this CPU, then? Well, it’s the beast that powers the PlayStation 3, the most powerful console of this generation. If Nintendo was to use it – or rather, an updated version – in their next console, we would have one very powerful machine on our hands. It may be a little unusual for Nintendo to put effort into the hardware for once, but given their recent change of heart with the 3DS, which produces graphics mistakable for an Xbox 360 without breaking into a sweat, it’s quite likely that they’ll continue this in their home console market, seeing how many third-parties refuse to develop for the Wii due to its lack of horsepower.

Source: Nintendo Life

Some time ago, Sehat Sutardja, the co-founder of Marvell, slipped that “approximately 15% of the sequential increase [in quarterly sales] was due to the initial production revenue from our ARMADA application processors, primarily as a result of a major customer preparing to launch a new gaming platform.”

When this statement was first heard, all signs pointed towards this new gaming platform being Nintendo’s shiny new 3DS handheld. That has now been proven not to be the case, and the CPU won’t be coming to the PSP2, either — or any battery-powered device, for that matter.

Engadget quizzed Marvell’s Jack Kang at Mobilize 2010 about the company’s new quad-core ARMADA processor, to which he replied that it used up too much power to be feasible for portable devices. This leaves only one possibility: it’s going to be part of a new home console. Microsoft and Sony are treating the releases of Kinect and Move as if they were entirely new platforms, so it’s very unlikely that they’ve currently got plans to launch the Xbox 720 or PlayStation 4. The Wii, on the other hand, is already showing signs of slowing down, with its rivals finally starting to eat into its incredible share of the console gaming pie; it’s inevitable successor can’t be too far away at this point.

Therefore, if Kang’s statement is to be believed, Nintendo has just filed a voluminous order of quad-core ARMADAs with Marvell with the intent of using them in the Wii 2. Fact or not? You be the judge.

Sorry to anyone who’s reading this site at this point; I know I said I would officially launch this blog on the 29th, but I can’t do that as long as the domain I wanted for it is unavailable. It had been registered by someone else up to some time ago, but apparently, 75 days need to pass from its expiry date in August before I’m allowed to grab it for myself; pretty much means this site will stay here until the beginning of November or so.

Still, that gives me a little more time to polish up the site’s design! Does anyone think I should “launch” it under its current subdomain, wii2blog.feld0.com, or is it better if I wait for wii2blog.com to become available again?

…tomorrow! Since there’s a small chance of Nintendo at least giving us a little teaser – a codename, perhaps – of the Wii 2 at their press briefing tomorrow, I’ll officially launch this site then.

The site’s already up and running, so you may be wondering what exactly I mean by “launching it.” The thing is, what you see today is actually just the site in its construction and testing phase. In case you haven’t noticed yet, the site doesn’t even have its own domain yet. I’ll definitely have one for it by the time Nintendo’s press conference is over.

See you then! I’ll be liveblogging the conference over at Nintendo3DS.org.uk in a little less than 24 hours from now!

Tomonobu Itagaki, the former head of Team Ninja, was interviewed about an upcoming Xbox 360 & PlayStation 3 game of his, Devil’s Third, during the Tokyo Game Show. He spoke about how the game’s technology was scalable and easily adaptable to other platforms, facilitating the bringing of the game “to as yet unknown hardware as well.” Asked if he was hinting at the game coming to the PlayStation Portable’s successor or the Nintendo 3DS, he had this to say:

More than that, although I can’t say this easily because I don’t have any information, it’s possible that Nintendo could release a higher end console. Something like that.

He doesn’t appear to be aware of any details about Nintendo’s next home console, but it’s possible that Itagaki may have some relations with Nintendo. Perhaps he will be given a developer’s kit as soon as it becomes available. However, Nintendo also has a track record of having sworn their third-party developers to secrecy, requesting them to deny having any insider knowledge, even if confronted directly about it. Either way is possible, since there is no evidence to prove it either way.

Now, you may be wondering what exactly this Devil’s Third is all about, anyway. Details are still a little sparse, but the game was first announced just before E3. According to its creator, it will be a bloody shooter that will give the player “a more direct feeling of killing your opponents,” using a combination of gunplay and carefully crafted melee combat to achieve this. It’s the first project of Valhalla Game Studios, the studio Itagaki formed after leaving Team Ninja.

Kotaku has more details about the game in an exclusive interview.

Source: andriasang.com via Nintendo Life

According to a recent interview with Revogamers, No More Heroes 3 will be designed for the Wii’s successor. While no details are known about the new platform, it’s clear that it’s very important to Suda51. It’s our first confirmed game for the new system, but it must be noted that it is exceedingly unlikely for Grasshopper Manufacture to currently be developing the game; at this stage, only a select few Nintendo engineers probably have access to the console.

A beam katana is pretty much a lightsaber, just under a different name to avoid potential copyright woes.

No details are known about Suda’s plans for the game yet but in the interview, he mentioned that during the development of No More Heroes, he was against the ‘shaking’ gesture used to recharge the beam katana’s batteries, thinking that it would receive a cold response from fans. Since that wasn’t the case, though, expect it to return in No More Heroes 3…that is, if the Wii’s successor even uses motion control as we know it at all… Continue reading…

“At Nintendo we always have the obligation to surprise users with a new game console. We have never done what others have. We prefer to create something new that catches attention, and I think this will continue this time as well. Surely the new Nintendo machine will leave you all with your mouth open.”

~Yoshio Sakamoto, co-creator of the Metroid series

(source)

It has been just four short years since Nintendo put their last home console out, the Wii. It feels like only yesterday the sleek, white box was sold out in every outlet that carried it, both large and small. Tales of brave souls who camped outside major stores are still fresh in many of our minds, and are no mere urban myths; some of us may even have seen it happening ourselves.

Even before it launched on the fateful Sunday morning of November 19th, 2006, the Wii had already established itself as a revolutionary cultural phenomenon. With it, not only did Nintendo regain the interest of their faithful fans with promises of brand-new Mario, Metroid, and Zelda titles, but they captured an entirely new customer base that was still on its training wheels. With the world premiere of mass-market motion controls, Nintendo lured the promising new “casual” audience to its latest creation, using a simple, barebones collection of five motion-controlled sports to gain their appeal. Tens of millions of people who would never have thought of touching a video game in their lives were getting up off the couch with their families all over the planet to play tennis, go bowling, punch fighters, get home runs, and hit the fairways, all from the comfort of their living rooms.

The sales figures, exceeding 70 million to date, have broken all sorts of records and proven that Nintendo know what they’re doing. Even to this day, Microsoft and Sony have infamously come out with motion control solutions of their own in a desperate attempt to steal a little of the Wii’s mammoth market share.

But Nintendo is already leaving them in the dust, speeding ahead with plans for their next gaming systems. The Nintendo DS–well known for its venerable game library, rivaled only by Sony’s legendary PlayStation 2–is already riding into the sunset, the Nintendo 3DS primed to take its place, despite strong sales figures. It is now only a matter of time until the Wii undergoes a similar fate.

Thus, this blog was founded. From now until we get an official word to when it’s out and beyond, this site aims to be your one-stop source of information about the Wii’s inevitable successor. News and rumours, previews and reviews, fan wishes and art, everything you’ll ever want will be right here.

The Wii 2 is coming. And it’s gonna be big.